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Republican presidential primaries are taking place in Michigan and Arizona today. While Mitt Romney is expect to easily win the Arizona primary, the polling of Michigan shows that the race there is incredibly close. Arizona assigns its delegates winner-takes-all, but in Michigan delegates are based on how well a candidate does in each congressional district. You can find my primer for tonight here.
Most polls close in Michigan at 8pm Eastern but all of them close by 9 pm ET. Expect results to come in rather quickly in Michigan. In Arizona, all polls close at 9 pm ET.
Real time results can be found at Politico or Google.
The exit poll data released so far shows that in both states voters said electability is the most important quality in a nominee.
8:25 pm – In Michigan the very first votes have just started coming in. With 1 percent of precincts reporting it is currently Rick Santorum 44%, Mitt Romney 34%, Ron Paul 11%, Newt Gingrich 7%.
8:30 pm – Results are starting to come in pretty quickly in MI. Currently Santorum 40%, Romney 39%, Paul 10%, Gingrich 7%. Very close.
8:48 pm – We are now up to 11 percent reporting in Michigan and it is still pretty close. Santorum 41%, Romney 38%, Paul 11%, Gingrich 7%.
9:00 pm – All polls are now closed and CNN projects that Mitt Romney will win Arizona.
9:03 pm – You can find the Arizona exit polls here and the Michigan exit polls here.
9:05 pm – So far it appears Operation Hilarity in Michigan seems to have worked pretty well. According to the exit polling Democrats made up 9 percent of the vote in the state. Santorum won Democrats by 57% to Romney’s 17%.
9:11 pm – With 25 percent reporting in Michigan it is now Romney 41%, Santorum 38%, Paul 11%, Gingrich 7%. The exit polling gives Romney a slight edge in the state. So far things are looking good for Romney this evening.
9:14 pm – Romney won a strong clean sweep in Arizona. Exit polls have him winning all age groups and all economy groups in the state.
9:22 pm – With 31 percent reporting in MI it is Romney 41%, Santorum 38%, Paul 11%, Gingrich 7%.
9:25 pm – At the very least Romney will have some decent talking points to spin Michigan. Romney won actual Republicans 47% to Santorum 37% and the two candidates tied with Independents. It is only Santorum’s huge margin with Democrats that is keeping the race close. If this were a closed primary Romney would have won easily.
9:37 pm – We are now at 40 percent reporting in MI and Romney continues to hold onto a narrow lead. It is Romney 41%, Santorum 38%. Looking at where the votes have currently been counted, things are looking pretty good for Romney.
9:49 pm – With 51 percent reporting Romney’s lead has grown slightly. Romney 42%, Santorum 37%, Paul 12%, Gingrich 7%.
10:00 pm – Now at 60 percent reporting and Romney’s lead keeps growing. Romney 40% to Santorum 36%.
10:05 pm – Interestingly Romney did about as well among voters who approved of the auto bailout and voters who disapproved of it. Romney’s vocal opposition to it did not hurt him in the Michigan primary, but that could be due to the fact that all the GOP candidates also opposed it.
10:10 pm – Rick Santorum is now speaking before Michigan is called. A pretty good sign he doesn’t expect to win it.
10:14 pm – NBC is now projecting Mitt Romney will win Michigan.
Final thoughts – Romney scored a huge win in Arizona and managed a solid win in Michigan. While both states for different reasons favored Romney, a solid sweep tonight is a very important for the Romney campaign going forward.
In the past few days the national momentum started swing back towards Romney and the two wins tonight should help that trend continue. Romney should have solid momentum heading into Super Tuesday next week when ten states vote.
This has been a very good night for Romney.
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Remember, though, many of these voters think the most conservative candidate is the most electable candidate. After all, they lost in 2008 because McCain was so liberal.
And one of the arguments Sanctum Santorum made in Michigan was that nominating Romney would take “Obamacare” off the table in the general election.
Does anyone know what the deal is with early voting? Are those the results we are seeing now (they were reputed to favor Romney).
Mitt is standing in a deep hole and a win in Michigan isn’t going to make the base love him. He is wandering around like a lost soul.
There’s no early voting per se in Michigan. Voters age 60 and older can vote absentee, no reason given; some clerks automatically send absentee ballot applications to people who had applied for one in the previous election.
Sounds like Ds.
True, I think….which is fine with me.
All over the country the Republican PTB are on their knees, praying.
Wonder how the calls to dems will be viewed by the repub base.
My Congressman, Thad McCotter, now on MSNBC. Time for a stiff drink.
Heavy Mormon advantage in Arizona
Was just over at HP swatting wingers. They sure are a pesky bunch and really a nuisance. Many of them seem to be taking heart in Rick Sanctomonium’s electoral possibilities. Of course he was the their second choice once they realized Martin Bormann wasn’t available.
That is the #1 reason Obama is hoping to run against Romney. Neutralizes Obama’s political ‘failure’
That native son of Arizona, Barry Goldwater wouldn’t recognize today’s Republican Party.
They do that in California too.
Hi, y’all. Darn primaries interfering with my plan to avoid politics today. MSNBC discussing Romney’s footinmouth re his own wealth: rev al got it best…commenting on someone saying his friends explain that he “just doesn’t see himself as rich”. Rev Al: that’s worse, bc it’s clear that he cannot understand how people who are not rich live, how they worry about paying their bills, and their mom’s social security, etc., etc.
Then, surprisingly, Tweety: “he’s a boss. He’s always been a boss.” “He refuses to answer questions he doesn’t care for, he’s arrogant, and he’d be an arrogant president.
So even Tweety can be right once in awhile.
Must be everyone’s on pins and needles waiting for the Michigan results.
I think Rick overplayed his religious hand this week.
It is only Santorum huge margin with Democrats that is keeping the race close. If this was a closed primary Romney would have won easily.
*sigh* I wish they would’ve voted for Ron Paul instead…! As I intend to do in Hawaii’s March 17th open caucus…! ;-)
The only reason Willard won is because Frothy hasn’t figured out how to campaign without opening his mouth.
Tejanarusa! Wanna take a wildflower trip with me this year? They ought to be out as wet as it’s been.
*heh* But, Peg…! The Mittster is suffering from the very same ‘foot in mouth’ affliction…! ;-)
On edit: The very same ‘silver foot’ Ann Richards had railed about…!
Yeah but apparently teh clueless isn’t as bad as teh crazee!
So the nominee chosen in 2008 will be the nominee; what a country we live in, damn!
All kidding aside, the Ron Paul people are approaching their moment of truth as is the GOP:
In order for the GOP to remain competitive, they need the Ron Paul style libertarians. The only way they can do that is by putting one of the Pauls on the ticket. That isn’t in the DNA of a corporate war monger party.
If there is no Paul on the ballot in November, a goodly chunk of voters leave the GOP and a goodly chunk of people that don’t vote will come out for something new and interesting. The net effect will be similar to the Perot Factor in 1992 (without the mercurial personality of Perot).
As a follow-on effect, once it becomes clear (to the slow of synapse) that Romney is not going to win, and thus new entries cannot be considered “spoilers” the political vultures will emerge to feast on the rotting corpse of the GOP (Trump, Bloomberg).
It’s a pity that the GOP couldn’t change its stripes, but it really is the party of the top .01% and the dissatisfaction of the rubes doesn’t matter in the end. I think we are seeing the end of the “voting against their interests” phenomena we have seen from the bottom 99% since the days of Richard Nixon. They realize now that when the economy doesn’t work for the average family, it doesn’t work.
I think Obama ought to take out Frothy by introducing legislation banning the eating of babies. Then he can froth about what a liberal, elitist, atheist, plant eating, herbivore Obama is for wanting to ban the consumption of baby flesh.
Brokaw on MSNBC talking about Santorum saying (paraphrase) he represents the peoples whose lives are broken, not only due to the economy but culturally.
What a load of shit, Brokaw. Nobody “culturally” has lost anything – except women who have been hurt politically by Santorum and his ilk.
I would like to nominate David Gregory for Stupidest Man on Television, bar none. I mean, this includes The Situation and Andy Richter. He is SO dumb. Says the most obvious things in the most profound manner, as if they are great insights, while the MSNBC panel looks around at each other as if to say, “DUH!?”
I think it’s a pretty big assumption that there won’t be more Republicans staying home if the IS a Paul on the ticket. It seems to me there are many more Not Paul Republicans than there are Not Willard ones
LGBT persons as well.
Edit: Oh yeah, and Brokow is a right wing loving, flag waving, dog whistle blowing, stereotype dropping, anonymity granting shitcan.
My reaction exactly: what profound effect does my marriage have on some Dutch Reformed bigot in Holland, Michigan?
Maybe, but they won’t be so afraid of Paul just so long as a bloodthirsty war monger is on the top of the ticket.
The people who hate Paul hate Obama more.
Not to mention Manatee Gallagher…
To a degree – there’s been some LGBT advances,in spite of wingnut horror, which is what Brokaw is addressing.
Like their horror is legitimate somehow, when in fact they’re driving the war-wagon against women.
Just shut up, Brokaw.
agree
Oooh, sure! You’re right, they oughta be everywhere. Last year, I hardly saw any. We’ll have to keep an eye out the next few weeks.
Yeah, that’s a pretty big assumption too. Many conservatives aren’t rational people. Every slight, every tiny defeat is magnified by paranoia into some huge personal attack on them. One group is going to sit home and pout if there is a Paul on the ticket and another large fraction will sit home and pout if a Paul isn’t on the TOP of the ticket.
Brokaw’s sell-by date came sometime during the CompuServe era.
oh! Is THAT what Brokaw was talking about? I thought he meant all the sluts that think they’re entitled to take the pill. But I was a tad befuddled.
“culturally”? was that a paraphrasse or did he use that word? I’m not watching but it sounds like he’s talking prejudice, bigotry and hatred-which I have never thought synonymous with “culture.” Along with David Gregory and Tweety? That is one brutal panel. sad thing is that it’s not the worst.
lol. That WAS a long time ago, wasn’t it?
Right – when you GetEqual with them, they lose mastery, therefore they’ve lost freedumb. Or something.
I usually go east on I-10, then north on 71 past Dripping Springs and then back down 281. Lotsa long, sweeping views of hillsides full of wildflowers. And Bluebonnets galore!
Yeah, last year I saw a couple of dusty bluebonnets struggle out of the ground, go *erk* and die.
No, it’s not the worst. Pat Buchanan still could be around, with access to a bottle of Heaven Hill in the green room.
ctuttle – I asked you a question on bmaz and marcy’s trashtalk thread. I think everyone’s abandoned it (or I drove them away with my obnoxious college basketball rooting).
Culturally is definitely not the word he used. There were phrases after the “not only due to the economy” that I chose to sum up with that one word.
Wish I had a tivo – I’d tell you exactly what he said.
go what?
Did you see? We were scolded for being mean to a “Senate candidate”.
Wildflower gazing in central Texas.
“Yeah, last year I saw a couple of dusty bluebonnets struggle out of the ground, go *erk* and die.”
(weird. html tools not workin’ for me tonight)
Anyway..yeah, the drought pretty much killed ‘em off big time.
If you want, we can take each other’s picture sitting in the field of bluebonnets.
Okay…we’re not to discuss college basketball on this drive…Just puttin’ that out there now. ;)
I can’t see how Oakland and Macomb Counties can help Santorum close the gap, even assuming the absentee votes have been counted there.
ok. but still. sounds like giving hatred/prejudice etc. some legitimacy. they have these people running their yaps hour after hour, it’s guaranteed that stupid shit is gonna come out at some point
We could do that. If we do it near LaGrange we can probably pay a homeless guy to take both our pics together.
Looks like Willard is opening up a slight lead against closet boy in Michigan
i meant the noise. did you say “erk”? New one on this Jersey guy. i waas trying to picture that. well expressed.
Heh. He missed the 2010 online chat we had here when Andrew Romanoff was challenging
Thurston Howell IIIMichael Bennet.I was not shy with Andy either.
Any “trust me – I’m not the other guy” candidate needs grilled. A lot. On a hot flame. With tabasco if you got it too!
Fun fact: those West Michigan counties that went for Santorum have several tribal casinos, as well as more small breweries than Wayne Country. One of the best micros in the state is in Holland, the buckle of the Dutch Reformed Bible Belt.
I think she meant the bluebonnet death rattle “go ‘erk’ and die.”
I like it.
I tried to point that out! Then we were “good cop-bad cop”! If that guy did somehow win a Senate seat, he won’t last a day if he can’t take a few questions and some constructive criticism.
Aw, yer killin’ me!
S’okay. I already jumped up and down when we won. I only do that for basketball victories.
never heard an erk.
Rick’s talking about himself in third person.
It’s not profound. It’s downright cataclysmic is what it is.
Santorum’s mother has a masters degree. Wonder what she thinks of his anti=college nonsense. His dad was a clinical psychologist. So much for growing up in a coal mine.
Oh. I got *erk* from an old Don Martin cartoon I saw when I was a kid. Guy is in the hospital and in classic Martin style his heart is going “Thumpa-*erk*, thumpa-*erk*, thumpa-*erk*”. Then he gets a heart transplant and his heart is going “thumpa, thumpa, thumpa…” and keeps doing that until he arrives home. He opens his mail box and takes out an envelope marked “hospital bill”. When he opens it, his heart goes “Thumpa-*ERK*” and then he falls over dead. I’ve been using *erk* ever since.
God. What? He think he’s in the NBA or somethin’?
Michigan called for Mitt….in the middle of ricky’s speech.
So it’s okay for Sanitarium’s wife and mother to go to college and work but not for the rest of us. Did I mention what a colossal dick he is?
Timing is everything! What a hoot.
I think there is a term for that in the DSM V
Santorum and wifey are both attorneys. I thought she was just that old geezer’s left over.
On edit: To be nice, she did look kind of cute in the pix with her lover….the doctor who delivered her…and went on to do numerous abortions. She can’t be all bad.
LMAO! “Senator, I know Frothy. I have served with Frothy. I have been Frothy. Sir, you are not Frothy….”
The people who hate Paul hate Obama more.
Uh no, I know more than few liberals,myself included, that have managed to dislike BOTH.
Rick says this election is about having a government that doesn’t try to run your life. I’ll second that.
Aw, I just switched over to a drama – to avoid the electoral drama, especiallly Santorum’s delusional victory speech…and Diane Sawyer and Stephanopolous have just taken over my screen.
Sheesh.
She probably agrees with him. After all, Santorum is really only against brown people going to college.
Ricky’s law school was so low-tier that Regent University was created in order to keep it out of the basement.
very expressive. i’m picturing this lonely flower (I don’t even know what a bluebonnet is–margarine where i come from), all alone,growing out of the hard, cracked, parched, barren ground. all alone in the blistering sun. only life as far as the eye can see. and then..cough, cough, wheeze. erk. it flops over and then flops to the ground.
has my imagination taken some liberties?
Bluebonnet
That’s ’cause you don’t have bluebonnets!
http://goo.gl/XBy4f
Santorum prattles on while a big pix of Romney is next to his face declaring “Winner’….maybe I was wrong, maybe there is a god!
Had he given this speech in Michigan instead of picking fights about college snobbery and JFK, he would have won this primary.
And now I owe you a beverage.
Hot tea w/ lemon and honey, perhaps?
thanks. learn something every day. should anyway.
and puking.
Like I said, Frothy just hasn’t figured out how to campaign without talking. If he figures that out, he’s gold.
Oh, god, Santorum is now all over religion…..but he can’t even get a good boo-Obama outta his sucky audience. He’s such a slime ball.
On edit: now he’s frothing about ending entitlement programs….and he can get a bit of a cheer. Sounds like there are at least 5 people in the audience.
Actually, Frothy himself proves how dangerous it is for kids to grow up with two parents working: he did, apparently (new to me!) and look how he turned out.
That’s kinda what last spring was like…drought, big time. So bad that even after six weeks of rain, we’re still officially in drought. Except that bluebonnets never appear alone..even in a drought, at least a small clump of two or three.
It’s a poor day when you don’t learn anything new.
still, 3 or so weeks ago, if you had told me MI would be this close between Romney and Santorum, wouldn’t have believed it.
hey, did Newt start to tank shortly after palin endorsed him?
You don’t owe me. Your pic was better. :)
do they hear themselves?
I’ve come from watching an absolutely superb documentary on PBS on the Amish to here. Talk about culture shock… It seems that the Frothy Mixture has been on the teebee yammering for damn near 15 minutes. I guess that means he thinks he lost? I just can’t listen to him. In between checking in to see if he’s still babbling I’m watching TLC because they have a FASCINATING show on an English gentleman who’s a compulsive hoarder… As much as I love politics and discussions about politics even I have limits to what I’ll tolerate and The Frothy Mixture crosses those limits.
I call this Frothy’s “New Nixon” speech, full of resentment and bluecollar angst, both completely feigned.
He started off well, but one of his energy buddies should have told him “when you strike oil, stop boring.”
Hoarding is an illness and those people are being exploited.
I will never watch that shit.
I remember 2005 when 183 was almost solid blue from Austin to Floresville! Just resplendent.
good night every, thanks for coming by.
Which is coincidentally almost exactly when Kelly and I met.
true. glad i learned about the bluebonnet. now it’s just seeing that Santorum is an asshole–which we all knew eons ago. and I learnt today that the boss i really like can be a nasty bitch when she puts her mind to it. much prefer learning about flowers.
Had Santorum been around in 1776, I’d bet 10 shillings he would have sided with the Loyalists.
I agree that hoarding is an illness, and I actually had a friend who was a hoarder. (She died last year, probably in her hoard in NYC.) The Frothy Mixture is also a symptom of an illness. I won’t watch him.
And the Revolution would have been two years shorter….
Notice how they kept all the aging white males to the sides of the stage.
Thankfully, it’s over. Please, Frothy, go home and stay there.
Oh, thank heaven. Frothy has STFU. Now I can watch politics again.
“Had he given this speech in Michigan instead of picking fights about college snobbery and JFK, he would have won this primary.”
Yeah, but see downthread – he can’t. He just can’t help talking about his righteous religious positions. That’s what he really cares about. He gets energized and downright angry when he talks about sluts and the evil of contraception and the evil of separation of church and state, and, and…
Like Romney can’t help remindng us he’s rich.
So…. A five to one spending ration netted Willard about a four point victory? Well played Willard, well played.
If Willard says “the trees are the right height” this evening, you must drain the entire bottle.
Oh, gawd… The Rmoney Bot 2.0 is going to start… Iron Chef America Countdown seems a reasonable alternative.
Aah, yes you did, tj…! I’m at sea-level tonite…! I’m amidst my eggplant parmesan…! ;-)
i have no sound. who’s the blonde chick with the big hair? Mrs. Mitt?
No, I think he thinks he won! Although I turned off his speech after his crowing opening.
Maybe there’s wrestling on somewhere….
DROOOOLLLL!!! One of my absolute favorites! You lucky, lucky dawg.
If he spends his own money, he may yet find out how the other half lives…
It’s Ann Romney. Maybe Mitt yielded the balance of his time to her.
Maybe he’s become as delusional as some Ron Paul supporters where second place = tremendous victory. Froth-mentum!
without question. he would have thought jefferson, adams, franklin, et al, just revolting.
Maybe she told him to stfu before he got to the part about his wallet.
He sure as hell wouldn’t have liked the results of the Constitutional Convention and the ratification of the Bill of Rights.
Ah. Apparently Michigan has gone for Romney, after all.
My fave part is that apparently Catholics went for Romney instead of Santorum by a big margin. Prolly those 98% who actually USE birth control.
Nobody knocked on the doors for Willard, and Mr. Robo made all the calls. I live in a Republican precinct in Michigan and ought to know.
But he’ll never have to do that, thanks to the Roberts court and Citizens United… Now the megamegamegarich can buy elections without spending a dime of their own money. Gosh, it’s just SO special to be an American, isn’t it?
More jobs, less debt. Less filling, tastes great.
Imagine having to pick between Zombie Jesus nutbag and Go broke, eat shit and die…
Does give one hope! I mean, Mitt is a Ken doll, but Frothy is downright scary.
A faltering economy? Maybe he sank millions into ultra-bear mutual funds and got killed by the stock market rally.
Hmmm. Strange. Not only aren’t the tools working, like link, but I see none of my replies show as replies, so you can’t tell who I’m answering.
Oh well. Some break I took today. WAy too much computer time. I think I’ll shut down and play with the cats; try to get up early.
Been fun sharing w/ y’all. Beerfart, glad we could edumacate you today. Bluebonnets are both cliche, and one of the best things about Texas.
WAit–is Dearie still here? I left a note at the bottom of the Diner..a professional-type status note. One more step along the road…
WTF is wrong with Ann Romney? Oh yeah, she’s married to Mitt.
I’m going to check right now!~
Can you even begin to imagine what that must have been like for all those years? The mind, she boggles…
On edit — although there may have been certain [ahem] physical compensations for having been married to a robot…
[slinks off to her corner until the morning]
just had a scary thought– my daughter would fit into that crowd behind Romney. One of them, anyway.
She probably had to stay quiet or trade car seats with Seamus.
Well, that was fun while it lasted. Looks like it will be Richie Rich vs. Mr. Bankster-Bailout. A study in contrasts.
well, except for my edit… [back to my corner]
Okay, not a fan of Axelrod but he made a funny:
Well, some of us are still out here in open primary states trying to toss a monkey wrench into the works. We think for Georgia possibly voting for Pig Newton is the way to go, but part of me says that he’s now such a proven loser that I should
pull the lever (if only)touch the screen for The Frothy Mixture. Still torn…On the other hand, something tells me Mrs Frothy has to be quiet even then.
pretty lame kiss, there, mitt
Hey, tejana, that’s great! Another step on the path. You must feel elated~!
Do Animatronics have functioning auditory systems? I always thought they were just programmed to go through their paces. (And, actually, EWWWW either way!!!)
The other Stepford wives talked. Dunno if they moan and scream though.
That’s because he didn’t have time to imagine kissing Rupert Murdoch or David Koch first.
I think actually I come out the winner here. I’ve been watching Wiley Dufresne turn tilapia into noodles on The Cooking Channel. And I don’t even like fish, but I loathe Republicans more than I loathe fish, so I come out ahead…
I didn’t watch anything. Typing and listening to rock-n-roll. Keeping up on teh tubez
those msnbc graphics suck
I can live with it. Makes it possible to crank up a little more pressure on Mr. Centrist.
All true.
They just can’t help showing everyone what neanderthanls they are. Even proud of it.
But then I come up with: “Yeah, and that just might make it possible for Obama to coast to four more years of bending over and spreading cheek for them.”